Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm
Technical information: (202) 606-6378 USDL 98-93
For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact: 606-5902 Wednesday, March 11, 1998
WORK AT HOME IN 1997
More than 21 million persons did some work at home as part of their
primary job in May 1997, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today. The overall number of persons doing job-
related work at home did not grow dramatically between 1991 and 1997, but
the number of wage and salary workers doing paid work at home did.
These findings are from a special supplement to the May 1997 Current
Population Survey (CPS), the monthly survey of about 50,000 households that
provides data on the nationís labor force. The information presented here
pertains to persons employed in nonagricultural industries who were at work
during the May 1997 survey reference week and indicated that they do some
job-related work at home. Similar data were last collected in the CPS in
May 1991. Highlights of the 1997 survey include:
--More than half of those working at home were wage and salary workers who
were not paid expressly for their time worked at home. About 17 percent,
however, were wage and salary workers who were paid for the hours they
put in at home. Virtually all the remainder were self-employed workers,
nearly two-thirds of whom had home-based businesses.
--Nearly 9 of 10 workers doing paid work at home were in "white-collar"
occupations.
--More than 4.1 million self-employed persons were working in a home-based
business.
--About 6 in 10 used a computer for the work they did at home.
--Wage and salary workers who were paid for working at home averaged
nearly 15 hours per week at home; those who werenít paid worked about 9
hours at home. Workers in home-based businesses worked 23 hours per week
at home, on average.
--Of those who worked at a second job, 37 percent did at least some of
their work at home.
Pay Status, Industry, and Occupation
While the number of persons reporting work at home grew by only 1.5
million since 1991, there was a sharp increase in the number of persons who
were paid for working at home. In 1997, 3.6 million wage and salary workers-
-about 3.3 percent of all wage and salary workers--were paid for the work
they did at home. In 1991, only 1.9 million wage and salary workers--1.9
percent of the total--were doing work at home for pay.
- 2 -
Of the 3.6 million wage and salary workers doing paid work at home, 88
percent were in "white-collar" occupations. Nearly a million of these
workers were in professional specialty occupations, slightly more than the
number of executives and managers. Sales and administrative support
occupations also had large numbers of paid home workers.
By industry, about 1.6 million wage and salary workers in the services
industry were doing paid work at home--about 44 percent of the total; more
than half a million in manufacturing were paid for work at home. All of the
major industry groups except mining had significant numbers of workers
doing paid work at home. (See table 3.)
The number of persons who were simply "taking work home from the
office"--that is, wage and salary workers who were not being officially
compensated for the work they did at home--was 11.1 million. (See table 4.)
This was a modest decline from 1991, when 12.2 million wage and salary
workers worked at home without being paid for that work. As with those
paid, persons who were not paid for the work they did at home were
overwhelmingly employed in white-collar occupations. Teachers were
especially likely to do unpaid work at home; 2.8 million teachers reported
doing so in 1997. From an industry perspective, services had the largest
number of unpaid home workers (6.1 million), followed by manufacturing (1.5
million).
About 6.5 million self-employed persons did some work at home in May
1997, more than half of all the self-employed who were at work during the
survey reference week. More than 4.1 million of the self-employed indicated
that they were working in home-based businesses. This was the first time
that the CPS had contained questions specifically designed to gather
information on home-based businesses. Managers and professionals accounted
for 1.7 million, or two-fifths, of those working in home-based businesses.
Sales, service, and precision production occupations also had large numbers
of such workers. In terms of industry, 2.1 million persons, or about half,
were working in services, while construction and retail trade accounted for
726,000 and 532,000 workers, respectively. (See table 5.)
Demographics
More than 70 percent of persons who did some work at home in 1997 were
in married-couple families. Women and men were about equally likely to work
at home. The work-at-home rate for married parents was about the same as
the rate for married persons without children. Whites were more than twice
as likely to be engaged in some form of home-based work as either blacks or
Hispanics. (See tables 1 and 2.)
Computer Use
Just under 60 percent of those who worked at home in 1997 used
computers. Among wage and salary workers, computer use was about the same
for those who were paid for work done at home (63.3 percent) as for those
doing unpaid work at home (61.6 percent). Paid home workers were more
likely to use a modem for their work at home (43.2 percent) than were
unpaid home workers (32.8 percent). Also, 23.2 percent of paid home workers
used a telephone line that was furnished by their employer. Only 54.4
percent of self-employed home workers used a computer for work done at
home. (See table 6.)
Work at Home on a Second Job
Of the 8.0 million persons who worked on a second job in May 1997, 37
percent did at least some of that work at home. Men with a second job were
slightly more likely than women to work at home on that job, and married
people were substantially more likely to work at home than unmarried
people. Married parents were about as likely to work at home on a second
job as married persons without children. However, single parents, and
especially single mothers, had higher work-at-home rates than single
workers without children. (See table 7.)
- 3 -
A total of 23.3 million persons were engaged in work at home on either
a first or second job in May 1997, including 21.5 million who worked at
home on their primary job and 3.0 million who did work at home on a second
job. About 1.2 million persons had two jobs and worked at home on both.
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| Information in this release will be made available to sensory|
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Table 1. Job-related work at home on primary job: All workers by sex, occupation, industry, and pay
status, May 1997
(Numbers in thousands)
Worked at home
Percent distribution by class of
worker(2)
Characteristic
Total Rate(1) Wage and salary Self-employed (3)
Home-
Paid Unpaid Total based
business
Total, 16 years and over.............. 21,478 17.8 17.0 51.5 30.1 19.2
Men..................................... 11,202 17.3 15.0 50.1 33.8 19.3
Women................................... 10,275 18.3 19.1 53.1 26.2 19.2
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty... 13,120 36.7 14.0 61.7 23.5 13.1
Executive, administrative, and
managerial........................... 5,940 34.0 14.6 54.8 29.8 17.1
Professional specialty................ 7,180 39.2 13.5 67.5 18.2 9.7
Technical, sales, and administrative
support.............................. 5,457 15.0 25.0 40.7 32.0 18.6
Technicians and related support....... 417 10.6 26.9 60.3 11.3 8.6
Sales occupations..................... 3,356 22.4 19.1 39.1 40.4 21.5
Administrative support, including
clerical............................. 1,684 9.7 36.3 39.0 20.5 15.4
Service occupations..................... 1,250 7.2 20.4 23.0 54.0 49.3
Precision production, craft, and repair. 1,145 8.2 10.1 26.5 62.0 49.2
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.... 506 2.9 14.4 31.2 51.1 42.5
Industry
Mining.................................. 73 12.3 (4) (4) (4) (4)
Construction............................ 1,330 16.2 10.3 20.0 66.8 54.6
Manufacturing........................... 2,318 11.5 22.3 62.7 14.2 8.3
Transportation and public utilities..... 963 10.9 21.2 56.2 21.0 13.7
Wholesale trade......................... 1,202 24.4 28.5 42.8 27.7 15.4
Retail trade............................ 1,964 9.2 14.7 36.9 47.3 27.1
Finance, insurance, and real estate..... 2,008 25.7 16.4 48.6 33.1 14.5
Services................................ 10,954 25.1 14.8 55.6 28.3 18.8
Public administration................... 666 12.3 29.5 69.2 - -
Race and Hispanic origin
White................................... 19,646 19.2 17.0 50.7 30.9 19.7
Black................................... 1,117 8.5 16.6 64.8 16.2 12.1
Hispanic origin......................... 830 7.2 17.5 53.9 27.8 18.8
1 Refers to the number of persons working at home as a percent of the total at work. The
calculation excludes those persons who did not respond to the questions on work at home.
2 Excludes unpaid family workers, not shown separately.
3 Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
4 Data not shown where the base is less than 75,000.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported work at home
during the survey reference week as part of their primary job. Detail for the above race and
Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not
presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Data reflect
revised population controls used in the Current Population Survey effective with January 1997
estimates. Dash represents zero.
Table 2. Job-related work at home on primary job: All workers by sex, marital status, presence and
age of children, and pay status, May 1997
(Numbers in thousands)
Worked at home
Percent distribution by class of
worker(2)
Characteristic
Total Rate(1) Wage and salary Self-employed (3)
Home-
Paid Unpaid Total based
business
Total, 16 years and over.............. 21,478 17.8 17.0 51.5 30.1 19.2
With no own children under 18....... 12,179 16.1 16.3 52.0 30.3 19.0
With own children under 18.......... 9,299 20.5 17.8 50.9 29.9 19.5
With own children under 6......... 3,885 19.6 18.8 47.6 31.6 22.3
Married, spouse present............... 15,175 21.6 16.9 50.1 31.6 19.8
With no own children under 18....... 6,804 21.7 15.9 49.1 33.8 20.7
With own children under 18.......... 8,372 21.6 17.8 50.9 29.8 19.0
With own children under 6......... 3,639 21.1 18.8 48.1 31.2 21.7
Other marital status.................. 6,302 12.4 17.0 55.0 26.6 17.9
With no own children under 18....... 5,375 12.2 16.9 55.7 26.0 16.8
With own children under 18.......... 927 14.0 17.7 50.9 30.1 24.1
With own children under 6......... 246 9.9 19.1 40.5 36.7 31.1
Men, 16 years and over.............. 11,202 17.3 15.0 50.1 33.8 19.3
With no own children under 18..... 6,259 15.4 16.0 47.1 35.8 21.3
With own children under 18........ 4,943 20.5 13.8 54.0 31.2 16.7
With own children under 6....... 2,118 18.8 14.2 55.5 28.7 16.3
Married, spouse present............. 8,385 21.1 14.8 50.8 33.4 18.3
With no own children under 18..... 3,678 21.5 15.9 45.9 37.1 21.5
With own children under 18........ 4,707 20.8 13.9 54.6 30.5 15.9
With own children under 6....... 2,069 19.3 14.3 55.8 28.4 15.9
Other marital status................ 2,817 11.2 15.8 48.1 34.8 22.0
With no own children under 18..... 2,581 10.9 16.1 48.7 33.9 21.0
With own children under 18........ 236 16.1 12.8 41.4 44.9 33.3
Women, 16 years and over............ 10,275 18.3 19.1 53.1 26.2 19.2
With no own children under 18..... 5,920 17.0 16.7 57.2 24.6 16.6
With own children under 18........ 4,356 20.4 22.4 47.4 28.3 22.7
With own children under 6....... 1,767 20.8 24.3 38.1 35.0 29.6
Married, spouse present............. 6,790 22.3 19.6 49.2 29.3 21.5
With no own children under 18..... 3,126 21.9 15.8 52.8 29.8 19.8
With own children under 18........ 3,664 22.6 22.9 46.2 28.9 23.0
With own children under 6....... 1,570 23.9 24.7 37.9 34.9 29.4
Other marital status................ 3,485 13.6 18.0 60.5 20.0 14.6
With no own children under 18..... 2,794 13.7 17.7 62.1 18.7 13.0
With own children under 18........ 691 13.4 19.4 54.2 25.1 20.9
1 Refers to the number of persons working at home as a percent of the total at work. The
calculation excludes those persons who did not respond to the questions on work at home.
2 Excludes unpaid family workers, not shown separately.
3 Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported work at home
during the survey reference week as part of their primary job. Own children include sons,
daughters, step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews, grandchildren,
and other related and unrelated children. Data reflect revised population controls used in the
Current Population Survey effective with January 1997 estimates.
Table 3. Paid job-related work at home on primary job: Wage and salary workers by selected
characteristics, May 1997
(Numbers in thousands)
Percent distribution by hours Mean hours
worked at home
Worked at
Characteristic home(1) 8 hours or more Total at
Less than Worked at work on
8 hours home primary
Total 35 hours job
or more
Total, 16 years and over.............. 3,644 47.7 52.3 16.0 14.9 40.8
Men..................................... 1,683 42.2 57.8 19.5 17.0 46.6
Women................................... 1,960 52.3 47.7 12.9 13.1 35.9
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty... 1,836 48.8 51.2 15.3 14.5 42.2
Executive, administrative, and
managerial........................... 867 51.9 48.1 16.7 14.6 43.8
Professional specialty................ 969 46.0 54.0 14.1 14.3 40.7
Technical, sales, and administrative
support.............................. 1,363 47.4 52.6 13.8 14.1 39.2
Technicians and related support....... 112 45.3 54.7 18.4 16.2 44.4
Sales occupations..................... 640 39.3 60.7 16.8 16.6 42.8
Administrative support, including
clerical............................. 611 56.0 44.0 9.8 11.2 34.5
Service occupations..................... 256 36.3 63.7 31.7 24.4 38.5
Precision production, craft, and repair. 116 56.5 43.5 12.4 11.3 42.0
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.... 73 (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)
Industry
Construction............................ 136 39.4 60.6 21.2 17.1 37.1
Manufacturing........................... 517 43.5 56.5 18.4 15.2 43.3
Transportation and public utilities..... 205 58.2 41.8 16.8 13.4 43.4
Wholesale trade......................... 343 35.9 64.1 13.5 16.2 43.9
Retail trade............................ 289 59.8 40.2 11.3 10.9 37.1
Finance, insurance, and real estate..... 330 49.6 50.4 17.3 15.8 41.9
Services................................ 1,616 46.9 53.1 15.6 15.2 39.8
Public administration................... 196 58.7 41.3 17.4 13.8 39.9
Race and Hispanic origin
White................................... 3,345 47.8 52.2 15.4 14.7 40.7
Black................................... 185 43.5 56.5 19.3 17.0 43.9
Hispanic origin......................... 145 36.4 63.6 21.1 18.2 38.8
1 Includes persons who worked at home but did not report the number of hours worked. Persons who
did not report the number of hours worked are excluded from the distribution.
2 Data not shown where the base is less than 75,000.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported work at home
during the survey reference week as part of their primary job. Detail for the above race and
Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not
presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Data reflect
revised population controls used in the Current Population Survey effective with January 1997
estimates.
Table 4. Unpaid job-related work at home on primary job: Wage and salary workers by
selected characteristics, May 1997
(Numbers in thousands)
Percent
distribution by Mean hours
hours worked at
home
Characteristic Worked at
home(1)
Total at
Less than 8 hours Worked at work on
8 hours or more home primary
job
Total, 16 years and over.............. 11,067 69.5 30.5 8.9 46.5
Men..................................... 5,615 71.1 28.9 8.7 49.1
Women................................... 5,452 67.9 32.1 9.1 43.9
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty... 8,098 67.4 32.6 9.2 46.9
Executive, administrative, and
managerial........................... 3,253 74.3 25.7 8.7 49.5
Professional specialty................ 4,845 62.7 37.3 9.6 45.1
Technical, sales, and administrative
support.............................. 2,220 73.6 26.4 8.2 45.3
Technicians and related support....... 252 79.3 20.7 6.8 43.5
Sales occupations..................... 1,311 69.4 30.6 9.5 48.2
Administrative support, including
clerical............................. 657 79.7 20.3 6.3 40.4
Service occupations..................... 288 82.8 17.2 5.8 43.9
Precision production, craft, and repair. 303 81.3 18.7 6.3 46.7
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.... 158 74.7 25.3 10.6 49.9
Industry
Construction............................ 266 72.4 27.6 7.9 44.9
Manufacturing........................... 1,454 76.9 23.1 8.1 48.7
Transportation and public utilities..... 541 76.5 23.5 8.3 48.6
Wholesale trade......................... 514 67.7 32.3 9.5 49.2
Retail trade............................ 725 78.5 21.5 8.2 48.9
Finance, insurance, and real estate..... 976 72.4 27.6 9.4 46.3
Services................................ 6,089 64.6 35.4 9.4 45.5
Public administration................... 461 82.0 18.0 6.3 45.1
Race and Hispanic origin
White................................... 9,958 70.1 29.9 8.8 46.8
Black................................... 724 64.6 35.4 10.5 43.8
Hispanic origin......................... 447 71.4 28.6 9.2 47.0
1 Includes persons who worked at home but did not report the number of hours worked.
Persons who did not report the number of hours worked are excluded from the distribution.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported work at
home during the survey reference week as part of their primary job. Detail for the above
race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races"
group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population
groups. Data reflect revised population controls used in the Current Population Survey
effective with January 1997 estimates.
Table 5. Home-based businesses: Self-employed persons by selected characteristics, May 1997
(Numbers in thousands)
Percent distribution by hours Mean hours
worked at home
Worked at
Characteristic home(1) 8 hours or more Total at
Less than Worked at work on
8 hours home primary
Total 35 hours job
or more
Total, 16 years and over.............. 4,125 30.4 69.6 29.3 23.0 37.3
Men..................................... 2,157 36.2 63.8 25.5 20.4 42.1
Women................................... 1,968 24.2 75.8 33.5 25.9 31.9
Occupation
Managerial and professional specialty... 1,714 28.3 71.7 28.2 23.1 37.0
Executive, administrative, and
managerial........................... 1,014 28.3 71.7 29.0 23.8 39.6
Professional specialty................ 700 28.3 71.7 27.1 22.1 33.2
Technical, sales, and administrative
support.............................. 1,016 33.4 66.6 22.5 19.5 32.0
Sales occupations..................... 722 34.4 65.6 24.1 20.2 35.8
Administrative support, including
clerical............................. 259 33.1 66.9 15.5 16.7 20.1
Service occupations..................... 616 12.0 88.0 58.3 36.9 42.1
Precision production, craft, and repair. 564 50.1 49.9 15.1 14.8 41.9
Operators, fabricators, and laborers.... 215 36.1 63.9 22.4 20.0 38.0
Industry
Construction............................ 726 49.5 50.5 14.3 14.3 44.3
Manufacturing........................... 193 13.6 86.4 38.5 29.1 36.5
Transportation and public utilities..... 132 52.8 47.2 18.0 14.9 35.7
Wholesale trade......................... 185 28.9 71.1 30.2 22.3 39.4
Retail trade............................ 532 38.9 61.1 19.2 19.1 30.5
Finance, insurance, and real estate..... 291 22.5 77.5 23.6 20.9 34.5
Services................................ 2,054 23.0 77.0 37.8 27.4 36.8
Race and Hispanic origin
White................................... 3,868 30.5 69.5 29.0 22.9 36.9
Black................................... 135 29.2 70.8 47.0 29.1 42.7
Hispanic origin......................... 156 27.8 72.2 31.3 23.8 35.9
1 Includes persons who worked at home but did not report the number of hours worked. Persons who
did not report the number of hours worked are excluded from the distribution.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported work in a
home-based business during the survey reference week as part of their primary job. Detail for the
above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races"
group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups.
Data reflect revised population controls used in the Current Population Survey effective with
January 1997 estimates.
Table 6. Job-related work at home on primary job: All workers by usage of electronic equipment at
home, May 1997
(In thousands)
Workers using electronic equipment for work
Characteristic Total at Telephone
work
Computer Modem Fax
Own line Employer
provided
Total, 16 years and over............. 21,478 12,785 7,533 6,165 13,413 1,516
Men..................................... 11,202 7,204 4,739 3,911 7,639 986
Women................................... 10,275 5,581 2,794 2,254 5,774 530
Class of worker and pay status(1)
Wage and salary workers(2).............. 14,946 9,223 5,261 3,566 8,036 1,516
Paid.................................. 3,644 2,307 1,573 1,276 1,859 846
Unpaid................................ 11,067 6,813 3,635 2,247 6,054 662
Self-employed(3)........................ 6,470 3,517 2,250 2,571 5,328 -
1 Excludes unpaid family workers, not shown separately.
2 Includes persons who worked at home but did not report pay status.
3 Includes both the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported work at home
during the survey reference week as part of their primary job. The number of workers using
electronic equipment at home exceeds the total number at work because many of these workers used
more than one type of equipment. Data reflect revised population controls used in the Current
Population Survey effective with January 1997 estimates. Dash represents zero.
Table 7. Job-related work at home on second job: All workers by selected characteristics, May 1997
(Numbers in thousands)
Worked at home
Characteristic Mean hours
Total Rate(1)
Worked at home Total at work
on second job
TOTAL
Total, 16 years and over.............. 3,005 37.4 8.2 13.0
With no own children under 18....... 1,709 33.5 8.7 13.2
With own children under 18.......... 1,296 44.3 7.6 12.6
With own children under 6......... 554 43.4 7.7 12.5
Married, spouse present............... 2,091 46.7 8.3 12.8
With no own children under 18....... 930 47.3 9.0 13.0
With own children under 18.......... 1,161 46.2 7.8 12.6
With own children under 6......... 524 44.9 7.8 12.5
Other marital status.................. 915 25.8 8.1 13.3
With no own children under 18....... 780 24.9 8.3 13.5
With own children under 18.......... 135 32.6 6.4 12.4
Men, 16 years and over.............. 1,686 39.2 9.3 14.5
With no own children under 18..... 958 36.2 9.8 14.7
With own children under 18........ 728 44.0 8.6 14.3
With own children under 6....... 327 40.1 8.3 14.1
Married, spouse present............. 1,242 46.3 9.3 14.3
With no own children under 18..... 541 48.4 10.0 14.3
With own children under 18........ 701 44.9 8.7 14.3
With own children under 6....... 322 41.4 8.3 14.1
Other marital status................ 444 27.4 9.2 15.1
With no own children under 18..... 417 27.2 9.5 15.3
With own children under 18........ 27 (2) (2) (2)
Women, 16 years and over............ 1,319 35.4 7.0 11.0
With no own children under 18..... 751 30.6 7.4 11.3
With own children under 18........ 569 44.6 6.4 10.5
With own children under 6....... 227 49.4 6.8 10.3
Married, spouse present............. 849 47.2 6.9 10.6
With no own children under 18..... 388 45.8 7.6 11.2
With own children under 18........ 460 48.5 6.4 10.1
With own children under 6....... 201 52.0 6.8 10.0
Other marital status................ 471 24.4 7.0 11.6
With no own children under 18..... 362 22.6 7.1 11.4
With own children under 18........ 108 33.4 6.5 12.3
Race and Hispanic origin
White................................... 2,755 39.7 8.2 12.8
Black................................... 180 22.5 9.5 16.4
Hispanic origin......................... 131 25.4 6.5 12.6
1 Refers to the number of persons working at home on a second job as a percent of the total at
work on a second job. The calculation excludes those persons who did not respond to the questions
on work at home on a second job.
2 Data are not shown where the base is less than 75,000.
NOTE: Data refer to employed persons in nonagricultural industries who reported work at home
during the survey reference week as part of their second job. Detail for the above race and
Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the "other races" group are not
presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups. Own children
include sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children. Not included are nieces, nephews,
grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children. Data reflect revised population controls
used in the Current Population Survey effective with January 1997 estimates.